People would better know Dr Shea for his Cockney-accented press briefings during the Kosovo Conflict. In NATO's first ever conflict, his rise to prominence and the way how he presented briefings and shared information with the media showed how public relations had become an influential role in modern warfare. Indeed at one point he
suggested that a Yugoslav radio station would be spared from bombing if it broadcasted Western news.

His boundless glib enthusiasm for regaling how effective NATO operations were irritated some commentators. However others felt that his Barrow Boy tongue made his spin sound more genuine than if they were delivered in crisp RP tones.